1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a relatively new and regulatory approved antitumor agent, Adriamycin.RTM. (Doxorubicin). More specifically, the present invention is directed to certain inorganic metallic complexes of Adriamycin.RTM. which offer enhanced stability to the parent moiety, Adriamycin.RTM..
2. Description of the Prior Art
Adriamycin.RTM. is a relatively new and regulatorily approved antitumor antibiotic which was isolated in 1967 from cultures of a mutant Streptomyces peucetius. Adriamycin.RTM. has been used successfully to produce regression in a number of neoplastic conditions such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myleoblastic leukemia, Wilm's tumor, soft tissue osteogenic sarcoma, neuroblastoma, breast carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma, transitional cell bladder tumor, bronchiogenic lung carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma and lymphoma of both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin types. A number of other solid tumors in the pediatric group have also shown some responsiveness to this recently developed drug. See, PHYSICIAN'S DESK REFERENCE, (1975), pgs. 550-551.
Because of Adriamycin's.RTM. sole route of administration (intravenous infusion), hydrolytic cleavage of its "glycone" or sugar moiety is well pronounced such that stability of the overall molecule is diminished. As a result of such instability, prolonged therapeutic activity of the drug is diminished.